A man has been arrested after the window of a car with two Asian women inside was smashed in, Vancouver police said Tuesday.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon near East Pender and Columbia streets in Chinatown when the two women were sitting inside a parked car. Police said the man allegedly yelled obscenities at them and smashed a car window with a chisel.
“This was a random, unprovoked incident and would have been very terrifying for the victims,” said Sgt. Aaron Roed. “It was particularly concerning for responding officers, considering the anti-Asian crime and incidents we have seen in Vancouver recently.”
Police were called and arrested the man. He has been released on a condition to appear in court.
On Friday, Vancouver police said they had seen a sharp uptick in the number of hate crimes in the city. So far in 2020, there have been 77 77 hate-associated police files, compared to 51 in the same time period last year. Nearly 30 of this year’s files have been opened since March, as COVID-19 cases rose in B.C. and restrictions were brought in.
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